Columbus, Ohio: Libertarians and Republicans reach deal that cancels city council primary, ensures Libertarians will be on November Ballot

Republicans and Libertarians reached a deal today that cancels the need for a Columbus City Council primary and ensures that two candidates from each of those parties are on the ballot in November.

[…]

The city charter requires a primary only if there are more than two candidates for each open seat.

[..] both parties agreed it was best to conserve their campaign resources for the November contest rather than fighting one another for spots on that ballot.

[..]

“The Libertarians and the Republicans looked at the cost of a primary and took into account how wealthy the incumbent Democratic candidates will be because of the contributions from people who do business with the city and who want to influence policy decisions at City Hall,” he said.

Remaining on the ballot are Republicans Matthew Ferris and Daryl Hennessy; Libertarians Mark Noble and Robert Bridges….

[..]

Despite the deal to reduce the number of candidates, the Republicans and Libertarians are not running together as a slate.

It is non-partisan — right. There is no party affiliation under names on November ballot. But the parties openly campaign.

Dems– 4 candidates
GOP– 2 candidates
LP– 2 candidates

Only 4 will be elected. As long as 8 or less running, they don’t need a primary.
Generally, the GOP and Dems only put up 4 each and it is soooo fricken cozy that a primary is not needed.
This year, it was different. New team in town, called the LP

Andrew S. Ullman, who was running as part of a slate of three Libertarians, said he’s now endorsing the four Democratic incumbents in the race. He said he agreed to drop out of the race because he needs time to look for work after losing a temporary job at Nationwide.

Ullman said he didn’t know that Mark Noble, the chairman of the Franklin County Libertarian Party and a fellow council candidate, was talking with his Republican counterpart about a plan to guarantee that two challengers from each party made it to the November ballot.

“I was going to drop out no matter what,” Ullman said yesterday. “But this questionable deal between the Libertarians and Republicans denies the city of Columbus a real choice in the primary.”

The city charter requires a primary if there are more than two candidates for each city council seat on the ballot. When 11 candidates successfully filed to run for four seats, a primary was scheduled for May 3 to trim the field to eight.

But when Ullman and Republicans Joe and Alicia Healy dropped out of the race this week, the need for a primary evaporated. All elections for city council are officially nonpartisan. Noble and Franklin County Republican Central Committee Chairman Brad Sinnott worked out the deal so that each party could focus its resources on winning in November rather than on a primary, they said.

Noble said yesterday that he didn’t tell Ullman about his plans as they discussed whether he would remain in the race.

“You never know what’s going to happen if you tell a lot of people about it,” he said. “You just have to see the right choice and be decisive and do it. We risked not having any of our candidates move through to November. As the county chair, it’s my responsibility to get Libertarians elected.”

Ultimately, he said, the move guarantees that three parties are on the ballot in November: A primary could have knocked out all three Libertarians.

He said he’s disappointed that Ullman is endorsing the Democrats.

Ullman worked for the Republican Party in Delaware County during the 2008 presidential election. Last year, he was campaign manager for Travis Irvine, a Libertarian who challenged U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township.

He said he now identifies himself as a liberal Democrat, but he agreed to run on the Libertarian ticket because he agreed with their stance on several issues, including supporting equal rights for gays and opposing closed City Council meetings.

Mrs. Healy said Sinnott told her and her husband why he was asking them to withdraw from the race. She said they agreed to do it because they thought it was the best way to get someone other than a Democrat elected to the City Council.

That ole Mark Noble is “shrewd”. Gave up NOTHING (Ullman was going to quit anyway) and got two GOP candidates to quit.

Wow, a Libertarian that can think on his feet, is articulate, and has some reality-based thinking.
We need to keep an eye on this guy.
What is it with that Ohio Libertarian Party. They don’t seem to be nut-jobs.